Websites are essential parts of online marketing plans, but if they aren’t used properly, it can be a waste of time and money. That’s why it’s important to focus not just on social media and online advertising, but on making your website as effective as possible!
If it’s not easy for your potential audience to find and read, a website is a lost opportunity. Here are five ways to make the most of your website and convert potential customers into actual customers.
Ingredients for a Successful Website
The proper website needs to have several key things to be effective. Some of them are pretty standard, but others can be lost if you’re new to web design.
User Friendly Layout and Design
Your site should have a purpose, and this purpose should be reflected in the design and layout. The purpose of your site should be evident to you and the audience, and if you’re not guiding visitors to do something – buy a product, leave their contact information, or learn about what your company does – then you’re wasting your energy. Every page, every heading, and every link should have a point.
The quality of your layout and design should help engage the audience. Making everything readable, intuitive, and professional means they’ll come to know and trust you. But don’t forget: they’re reading all this on the Internet. Write with this in mind: headings, paragraphs, and white space are all your friends online. This reflects well on your website, and thus on your business!
Measurements and Data
Having analytics and data measurements is the best way to find if you’re finding this aforementioned purpose. If a certain goal is not working out – there’s no conversion, or visitors aren’t staying on long enough – you can switch gears and go with what will. So don’t ignore your data!
Google Analytics can help you identify who is coming from where, what they’re doing on your site, and how long they stay on it. Pay attention to what they say, as this information could change your marketing plans!
Fresh new content that’s SEO friendly
Maintain a company blog and update it regularly. Your posts should be well-written, high quality, and use headings and keywords so as to maximize search engine optimization (SEO) – this makes it easier for search engines like Google to find you and make you visible on returns. Using the right keywords could mean you come up higher on search returns, and this could mean customers!
This also means original photos and video content, too. Visual components increase interaction and keep visitors on your site, and videos give your site an authoritative look and voice. Google also rewards those who regularly updates their visuals, too.
Make it mobile responsive
There’s a good chance members of your audience will find your website on their iPhones and try to engage with it, so you’d better make it easy for them! Mobile responsiveness is a simple addition to the back end these days, as now sites simply adjust to the screen size upon which they’re being read.
Key data
You don’t just have to rely on SEO to make it easy for Google to find your site. Use tools like sitemaps to help search engines easily crawl through your information and understand your updates.
